1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to live bottom trailers and more particularly pertains to a new rolling floor for a truck or trailer box for hauling, then unloading objects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of live bottom trailers is known in the prior art. More specifically, live bottom trailers heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,317,066; U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,338; U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,244, U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,848; U.S. Pat. No. 2,916,169; U.S. Pat. No. 3,487,905; U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,265; U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,864; U.S. Pat. No. 3,448,876; U.S. Pat. No. 2,507,252; U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,583; U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,647; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,921.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new rolling floor for a truck or trailer box which uses a continuous one-piece belt, supported by rollers to reduce friction, driven by a wrap-style hydraulic driven traction wheel positioned under the trailer. Rather, the inventions disclosed in the prior art primarily depend upon chain drives or have a plastic floor. The drawbacks of using chain drives include broken chains, chains becoming disattached from the gears, and the risks of injury from clothing and hair becoming caught in the gears. The main drawback of using the plastic floor model is that a heavy load placed on the belt creates immense friction, which could "freeze" the belt to the floor.
In these respects, the rolling floor for a truck or trailer box according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of hauling, then unloading objects.